U.S. patent number 11,355,318 [Application Number 17/072,866] was granted by the patent office on 2022-06-07 for adjustable fastening device for plasma gas injectors.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.. The grantee listed for this patent is Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.. Invention is credited to Chiao-Kai Chang, Ching-Yu Chang, Wai Hong Cheah, Yung-Shun Hsu, Chien-Fang Lin.
United States Patent |
11,355,318 |
Hsu , et al. |
June 7, 2022 |
Adjustable fastening device for plasma gas injectors
Abstract
An embodiment is an apparatus, such as a plasma chamber. The
apparatus includes chamber walls and a chamber window defining an
enclosed space. A chamber window is disposed between a plasma
antenna and a substrate support. A gas delivery source is
mechanically coupled to the chamber window. The gas delivery source
comprises a gas injector having a passageway, a window at a first
end of the passageway, and a nozzle at a second end of the
passageway. The nozzle of the gas delivery source is disposed in
the enclosed space. A fastening device is mechanically coupled to
the gas delivery source. The fastening device is adjustable to
adjust a sealing force against the gas injector.
Inventors: |
Hsu; Yung-Shun (Hsinchu,
TW), Chang; Ching-Yu (Hsinchu, TW), Chang;
Chiao-Kai (Hsinchu, TW), Cheah; Wai Hong
(Hsinchu, TW), Lin; Chien-Fang (Hsinchu,
TW) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd. |
Hsinchu |
N/A |
TW |
|
|
Assignee: |
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing
Co., Ltd. (Hsinchu, TW)
|
Family
ID: |
1000006357136 |
Appl.
No.: |
17/072,866 |
Filed: |
October 16, 2020 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20210043423 A1 |
Feb 11, 2021 |
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Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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16007780 |
Jun 13, 2018 |
10840066 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01J
37/32963 (20130101); H01J 37/3211 (20130101); H01L
22/26 (20130101); H01L 21/67069 (20130101); H01J
37/32715 (20130101); H01J 37/3244 (20130101); H01L
21/32136 (20130101); H01J 2237/20214 (20130101); H01J
2237/334 (20130101); H01L 21/31116 (20130101); H01L
21/6831 (20130101); H01L 21/67167 (20130101); H01L
21/3065 (20130101); H01L 21/31138 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01J
37/32 (20060101); H01L 21/66 (20060101); H01L
21/67 (20060101); H01L 21/3213 (20060101); H01L
21/683 (20060101); H01L 21/3065 (20060101); H01L
21/311 (20060101) |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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101414537 |
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Apr 2009 |
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CN |
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101529997 |
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Sep 2009 |
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CN |
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102763199 |
|
Oct 2012 |
|
CN |
|
104170067 |
|
Nov 2014 |
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CN |
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106415123 |
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Feb 2017 |
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CN |
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107221487 |
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Sep 2017 |
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CN |
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Primary Examiner: Ahmed; Shahed
Assistant Examiner: Rahman; Khatib A
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Seed IP Law Group LLP
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method of semiconductor processing, the method comprising:
transferring a substrate into a plasma chamber; flowing a gas into
the plasma chamber while the substrate is in the plasma chamber,
the gas flowing through a gas delivery source mechanically coupled
to the plasma chamber, the gas delivery source comprising a gas
injector through which the gas flows into the plasma chamber and an
adjustable fastening device, the gas injector including an upper
terminal end and a lower terminal end and the adjustable fastening
device including a gas injector cover over the upper terminal end
of the gas injector; adjusting the adjustable fastening device to
adjust a height of the gas injector cover to be in contact with a
window between the gas injector cover and the upper terminal end of
the gas injector; applying a sealing force against the upper
terminal end of the gas injector, the sealing force provided by the
adjustable fastening device; and maintaining a plasma using the gas
in the plasma chamber.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting the fastening device
comprises adjusting a plurality of fasteners.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein each fastener of the plurality of
fasteners comprises a bolt and a nut.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising adjusting the sealing
force by adjusting the sealing force applied by the adjustable
fastening device.
5. The method of claim 4, adjusting the sealing force applied by
the adjustable fastening device includes adjusting a sealing force
applied by the gas injector cover on the window.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein a seal is present between the
window and the upper terminal end of the gas injector.
7. A method of semiconductor processing, the method comprising:
transferring a substrate into a semiconductor processing chamber;
flowing a gas into the semiconductor processing chamber while the
substrate is in the semiconductor processing chamber, the gas
flowing through a gas delivery source mechanically coupled to the
semiconductor processing chamber, the gas delivery source
comprising a gas injector through which the gas flows into the
semiconductor processing chamber and an adjustable fastening
device, the gas injector including an upper terminal end and a
lower terminal end and the adjustable fastening device including a
gas injector cover over the upper terminal end of the gas injector;
adjusting the adjustable fastening device to adjust a height of the
gas injector cover in contact with a window between the gas
injector cover and the upper terminal end of the gas injector;
applying a sealing force against the upper terminal end of the gas
injector, the sealing force provided by the adjustable fastening
device; and maintaining a plasma using the gas in the semiconductor
processing chamber.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein adjusting the fastening device
comprises adjusting a plurality of fasteners.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein each fastener of the plurality of
fasteners comprises a bolt and a nut.
10. The method of claim 7, further comprising adjusting the sealing
force by adjusting the sealing force applied by the adjustable
fastening device.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein adjusting the sealing force
applied by the adjustable fastening device includes adjusting a
sealing force applied by the gas injector cover on the window.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein a seal is present between the
window and the upper terminal end of the gas injector.
13. A method of semiconductor processing, the method comprising:
transferring a substrate to a semiconductor processing system
including a semiconductor processing chamber that includes a gas
injector and an adjustable fastening device, the gas injector
including an upper terminal end and a lower terminal end and the
adjustable fastening device including a gas injector cover over the
upper terminal end of the gas injector, the adjustable fastening
device including multiple sets of fasteners; and tuning the
adjustable fastening device by adjusting the fasteners so that a
sealing force applied by the adjustable fastening device against
the upper terminal end of the gas injector is adjusted and a height
of the gas injector cover over the upper terminal end of the gas
injector is adjusted.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the gas injector cover has a
bottom surface that is sloped at an angle in a range from about 80
degrees to about 89 degrees relative to a longitudinal axis of the
gas injector cover.
15. The method of claim 13, further comprising maintaining a plasma
using the gas in the semiconductor processing chamber.
16. The method of claim 13, wherein each fastener of the multiple
sets of fasteners includes a nut and a bolt and adjusting the
fasteners further comprises rotating the nut.
17. The method of claim 13, wherein each fastener of the multiple
sets of fasteners includes a nut and a bolt and adjusting the
fasteners further comprises rotating the bolt.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the gas injector cover has a
bottom surface that is sloped at an angle in a range from 80
degrees to 89 degrees relative to a longitudinal axis of the gas
injector cover.
19. The method of claim 7, wherein the gas injector cover has a
bottom surface that is sloped at an angle in a range from 1 degree
to 10 degrees relative to horizontal.
20. The method of claim 13, wherein the gas injector cover has a
bottom surface that is sloped at an angle in a range from 1 degree
to 10 degrees relative to horizontal.
Description
BACKGROUND
The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced
exponential growth. Technological advances in IC materials and
design have produced generations of ICs where each generation has
smaller and more complex circuits than the previous generation. In
the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of
interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while
geometry size (i.e., the smallest component or line that can be
created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling
down process generally provides benefits by increasing production
efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down has
also increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs
and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC
processing and manufacturing equipment are needed. In one example,
a plasma processing system is utilized to perform plasma etching
process of a substrate. During a plasma etching process, a plasma
generates volatile etch products from the chemical reactions
between the elements of the material etched from the surface of the
substrate and the reactive species generated by the plasma.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the
following detailed description when read with the accompanying
figures. It is noted that, in accordance with the standard practice
in the industry, various features are not drawn to scale. In fact,
the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased
or reduced for clarity of discussion.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a plasma
chamber for integrated circuit fabrication, in accordance with some
embodiments.
FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a gas
delivery source, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a gas
delivery source further comprising a fixture to attach and secure a
gas injector onto a chamber window of a plasma chamber, in
accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a gas
delivery source attached to a chamber window of a plasma chamber,
in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of an
adjustable fastening device, in accordance with some
embodiments.
FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic top view of an integrated circuit
(IC) fabrication system, in accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 7 is a graph of a signal monitored by an endpoint detector, in
accordance with some embodiments.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method of processing one or more
substrates, in accordance with some embodiments.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The following disclosure provides many different embodiments, or
examples, for implementing different features of the provided
subject matter. Specific examples of components and arrangements
are described below to simplify the present disclosure. These are,
of course, merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. For
example, the formation of a first feature over or on a second
feature in the description that follows may include embodiments in
which the first and second features are formed in direct contact,
and may also include embodiments in which additional features may
be formed between the first and second features, such that the
first and second features may not be in direct contact. In
addition, the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals
and/or letters in the various examples. This repetition is for the
purpose of simplicity and clarity and does not in itself dictate a
relationship between the various embodiments and/or configurations
discussed.
Further, spatially relative terms, such as "beneath," "below,"
"lower," "above," "upper" and the like, may be used herein for ease
of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to
another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. The
spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different
orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the
orientation depicted in the figures. The apparatus may be otherwise
oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the
spatially relative descriptors used herein may likewise be
interpreted accordingly.
Certain embodiments provide an IC fabrication system and a method
utilizing the same. By utilizing the disclosed IC fabrication
system, the plasma process (such as plasma etching) quality and
efficiency can be improved. The IC fabrication system includes one
or more plasma chambers, each further including one or more gas
delivery sources with an adjustable fastening device. The
adjustable fastening device includes multiple sets of fasteners,
each further including a bolt and a nut. Each fastener may be
individually adjusted to accommodate any type of gas injectors and
to tune a fastening force to secure a gas injector cover to a gas
injector with enhanced sealing effect between a seal and a window
to reduce or to eliminate leaking of the gas injector. Certain
embodiments provide the adjustable fastening device to reduce or
eliminate leaking of the gas injectors due to different types of
gas injectors. Leaking of the gas injectors may cause erroneous
detection of a process endpoint by an endpoint detector and/or may
impact substrate process uniformity. By avoiding leaking of the gas
injector, maintenance and cost of the plasma chamber may be reduced
and the uptime of the plasma chamber may be increased.
FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a plasma
chamber 100 for integrated circuit (IC) fabrication, in accordance
with some embodiments. The plasma chamber 100 includes chamber
walls 102 and a chamber window 103 defining an enclosed space 104
for processing of substrates 108. The enclosed space 104 is
isolated from the outside environment and can be maintained at a
suitable state, such as vacuum or a below atmospheric pressure.
In certain embodiments, the plasma chamber 100 is operable to
perform a plasma etch process, such as plasma etching of metal,
dielectric, semiconductor, and/or mask materials from the surface
of the substrate 108. In certain embodiments, the plasma chamber
100 is operable to perform a deposition process, such as plasma
deposition of metal, dielectric, semiconductor, and/or mask
materials over the surface of the substrate 108. In certain
embodiments, the plasma chamber 100 is operable to perform a plasma
treatment, such as plasma treatment of metal, dielectric,
semiconductor, and/or mask materials on the surface of the
substrate 108.
The plasma chamber 100 includes a substrate support 106 provided
within the chamber walls 102 to support the substrate 108. The
substrate 108 may be a silicon wafer. In other embodiments, the
substrate 108 may comprise other elemental semiconductor materials,
compound semiconductor materials, alloy semiconductor materials, or
other semiconductor wafers, and other suitable substrates. Examples
of compound semiconductor materials include, but are not limited
to, silicon carbide, gallium arsenic, gallium phosphide, indium
phosphide, indium arsenide, and/or indium antimonide. Examples of
alloy semiconductor materials include, but are not limited to,
SiGe, GaAsP, AlInAs, AlGaAs, GaInAs, GaInP, and/or GaInAsP.
The substrate support 106 may include an electrostatic chuck and/or
a clamp ring (not shown) to hold the substrate 108 during
processing. The substrate support 106 may also have cooling and/or
heating elements (not shown) to control the temperature of the
substrate support. The substrate support 106 may also provide
backside gas to the substrate 108 to increase heat transfer between
the substrate 108 and the substrate support 106.
The substrate support 106 may be coupled to a rotation device 110,
such as a motor, to rotate the substrate support 106 and the
substrate 108 around a rotation axis 112 during substrate
processing. Rotation of the substrate 108 helps to provide uniform
processing of the substrate.
The plasma chamber 100 includes one or more gas delivery sources
114 coupled to the chamber window 103. The gas delivery source 114
is connected to a gas supply source 118 and is adapted to provide a
processing gas to the substrate 108. In various examples, the
processing gas is an etching gas, a deposition gas, a treatment
gas, a carrier gas, (such as nitrogen, argon, etc.), other suitable
gases, and combinations thereof. The gas delivery source 114
injects the processing gas into the enclosed space 104.
The plasma chamber 100 includes a pumping module 120 coupled to the
enclosed space 104 and operable to maintain the enclosed space 104
at a vacuum state or at below atmospheric pressure, such as below
about 5 Torr. In certain embodiments, the pumping module 120 is
operable to maintain the enclosed space 104 to a pressure in a
range from about 1 mTorr to about 100 mTorr. In various examples,
the pumping module 120 may include one or more pumps, and may
utilize multiple pumping technologies, such as a positive
displacement pump, momentum transfer pump, regenerative pump,
and/or entrapment pump. Various pumps may be configured in series
according to respective working ranges.
The plasma chamber 100 includes a plasma power source 122, such as
a radio frequency (RF) power source 122, coupled to a plasma
antenna, such as a coil 124 for an inductively coupled plasma, to
maintain a plasma inside the enclosed space 104. In other
embodiments, the plasma antenna may include plates for a
capacitively coupled plasma. The RF power source 122 is coupled to
the coil 124 through suitable RF impedance matching circuitry (not
shown). The coil 124 is posited over the chamber window 103. The
chamber window 103 comprises a dielectric window to permit an RF
energy provided by the plasma power source 122 from the coil 124 to
the enclosed space 104. The RF energy of the coil 124 is operable
to maintain an inductively coupled plasma from the processing gas
within the enclosed space 104 for etching, deposition, and/or
plasma treatment of the substrate 108. The plasma power source 122
of the plasma chamber 100 may include a first plasma power source
122A coupled to an inner coil 124A and a second plasma power source
122B coupled to an outer coil 124B. The first plasma power source
122A and the second plasma power source 122B may separately control
the RF energy provided to the respective inner coil 124 and the
outer coil 124B to control the plasma to an inner and outer region
of the substrate 108. In certain embodiments, the coil 124
maintains the plasma at a high density state, such as a plasma
density in a range from about 10.sup.9 ions/cm.sup.3 to about
10.sup.12 ions/cm.sup.3, such as from about 10.sup.10 ions/cm.sup.3
to about 10.sup.12 ions/cm.sup.3. The coil 124 may be a planar
multi-turn spiral coil, a non-planar multi-turn spiral coil, or a
coil having another appropriate shape. In other embodiments, the
plasma can be maintained by other plasma antennas, such as electron
cyclotron resonance (ECR), parallel plate, helicon, helical
resonator, or other plasma antennas.
FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of the gas
delivery source 114 comprising a gas injector 216, in accordance
with some embodiments. The gas injector 216 includes a cylindrical
body 206 having a passageway 207 for the processing gas to flow to
a gas injector head 208 configured on one end of the cylindrical
body 206. The gas injector 216 can be made of metal materials (such
as aluminum or stainless steel), dielectric materials (such as
quartz, alumina, silicon nitride), or other suitable materials.
The gas injector head 208 includes one or more nozzles 209. The
processing gas is delivered to the gas injector 216 from the gas
supply source 118 of FIG. 1 through one or more inlets 210 that
couples the gas supply source 118 to the gas injector 216. The gas
injector 216 delivers the processing gas through the passageway 207
and out of the nozzles 209 to the enclosed space 104 of FIG. 1.
The number of nozzles 209 and/or the angle of nozzles 209 can be
selected to provide desired gas distribution in a particular
substrate processing regime. For instance, the number, size, angle
of injection of processing gas and/or location of the nozzles 209
within the chamber can be adapted to a particular coil used to
inductively couple RF energy into the plasma chamber 100.
The nozzles 209 can have any desired shape, such as uniform
diameter along the entire length thereof, or other shape, such as
conically tapered, flared surfaces or radially contoured surfaces.
The nozzles 209 can be oriented to inject the gas in any direction,
including directly at the substrate 108, at an acute angle with
respect to the substrate 108, parallel to the substrate 108 or back
toward the upper plasma boundary surface (at an oblique angle with
respect to the longitudinal axis of the nozzle 209), or
combinations thereof. It may be desired to achieve a uniform flux
of process gas and plasma species onto the substrate surface to
facilitate uniform processing rates across the substrate 108.
Additional gas injectors can also be provided near the periphery of
the substrate or from other chamber walls 102.
The gas delivery source 114 may be disposed within the center of
the inner coil 124A and may be disposed through the chamber window
103. In the plasma chamber 100 in which a coil is used to maintain
an inductively coupled plasma in the enclosed space 104, the
location of the gas injector 216 in the center of the coil 124A
avoids exposure of the gas injector 216 to the toroidal zone of
plasma formed by the coils 124A, 124B. The nozzles 209 are located
in a region of reduced electric field strength at which there is
reduced plasma induced reactant decomposition. If the gas injector
is disposed away from the center of the coil 124, electric field
lines (created by the difference in potential between the plasma
and the gas injector 216) may be large and may lead to locally
enhanced deposition during etching or deposition clogging the
nozzles 209 of gas injectors 216 located away from the center of
the inner coil 124A. For the gas injector located at or near the
center of the inner coil 124A, electric field lines are smaller and
reduce the susceptibility of the nozzles 209 of the gas injector
216 from clogging, such as after successive plasma processing of
the substrate 108.
Different gas injectors 216 may be used for different process
regimes. Using different gas injectors 216 allow for selection of
the center gas feed location and the distance of the substrate 108
from the nozzles 209. A certain gas injector 216 may position the
nozzles 209 close to the substrate 108 or far from the substrate
108 to tailor the transport of plasma species to the substrate 108.
A certain gas injector 216 may be selected based upon utilization
of the processing gas in a certain process regime. Processing gas
delivery from the center of an inner coil 124 allows for efficient
utilization of the processing gas with minimal disturbance to
plasma uniformity. The nozzles 209 may be small in diameter so that
a plasma sheath formed around the gas injector 216 is largely
unaffected by the presence of the nozzles. The gas injector 216 can
facilitate efficient transport of processing by-products out of the
substrate region, which can favorably impact processing uniformity
and profile control, such as in chemically driven applications such
as metal etching. The delivery of processing gas to various regions
above the substrate 108 can be tailored by utilizing various
diameters and various positions of the nozzles 209 for different
gas injectors 216.
In other embodiments, one or more gas injectors 216 can be provided
in the chamber window 103 and/or more one or more gas injectors 216
can be provided at the side of the chamber walls 102.
An endpoint detector 230 may be directed through the passageway 207
of the gas injector 216 to monitor electromagnetic signals
emanating from the enclosed space 104 of the plasma chamber 100 of
FIG. 1. The electromagnetic signals may be visible, infrared,
ultraviolet (UV) light, X-ray light, and/or other electromagnetic
signals emitting from a plasma within the enclosed space 104. The
endpoint detector 230 can determine certain process conditions
within the plasma chamber 100 from monitoring the electromagnetic
signals. For example, the electromagnetic signals may indicate a
presence of a plasma, a presence of process gas species, a presence
of etching/deposition residual materials, or other process
information.
FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of the gas
delivery source 114 further comprising a fixture 302 to attach and
secure the gas injector 216 of FIG. 2 onto the chamber window 103
of the plasma chamber 100 of FIG. 1, in accordance with some
embodiments. The fixture 302 includes a cavity 304 to house the gas
injector 216. The fixture 302 includes one or more inlets 310 to
delivery the processing gas from the gas supply source 118 of FIG.
1 to the one or more inlets 210 of the gas injector 216. The
fixture 302 attaches onto the chamber window 103 using clamps,
screws, bolts, or other fasteners. In other embodiments, the gas
injector 216 can be brazed, sintered, or otherwise bonded into an
opening in the chamber window 103. In other embodiments, the
chamber window 103 and the gas injector 216 can be formed together
by sintering a ceramic powder, such as Al.sub.2O.sub.3 or
Si.sub.3N.sub.4. In other embodiments, the gas injector 216 can be
machined or otherwise formed in the chamber window 103.
FIG. 4 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of the gas
delivery source 114 attached to the chamber window 103 of the
plasma chamber 100 of FIG. 1, in accordance with some embodiments.
The gas delivery source 114 comprises the gas injector 216 housed
within the fixture 302. The gas delivery source 114 further
comprises an adjustable fastening device 420. The adjustable
fastening device 420 includes a base plate 422 and a gas injector
cover 416. The gas injector cover 416 provides a sealing force to a
window 414, such as a transparent window. The window 414 is
disposed between the gas injector cover 416 and the cylindrical
body 206 of the gas injector 216. A seal 412, such as an O-ring
seal, may be disposed between the window 414 and the cylindrical
body 206 of the gas injector 216, such as in a seal groove or
O-ring groove. The gas injector cover 416 provides a sealing force
to the window 414 against the seal 412 to reduce or eliminate air
or ambient gases leaking through the top of the gas injector 216
and into the plasma chamber 100. Undesirable leaking of air or
ambient gases into the plasma chamber 100 may cause process drift
on the substrates 108 and may result in non-uniform processing of
the substrates 108 within the plasma chamber 100.
The window 414 may be transparent to receive signals through the
passageway 207. For example, the window 414 may be made of a
polymer, quartz, sapphire, and/or dielectric material transparent
to electromagnetic signals, such as visible, infrared, UV light,
X-ray light, and/or other electromagnetic signals. The
electromagnetic signals through the window 414 may be used to
monitor the process conditions within the plasma chamber, such as
the presence of a plasma, the presence of process gas species,
and/or the presence of etching/deposition residual materials. The
window 414 may comprise any suitable shape, such as a round
plate.
In certain embodiments, the gas injector cover 416 may include a
central bore to permit reception of electromagnetic signals through
the window 414 to an endpoint detector 230. In other embodiments as
shown in FIG. 4, the gas injector cover 416 may not have a central
bore when monitoring electromagnetic signals through the window 414
is not conducted.
The gas injector 216, the fixture 302, and/or the gas injector
cover 416 may be made of a polymer, a metal, a dielectric material,
a quartz material, a ceramic material, other suitable materials,
and combinations thereof. Examples of suitable polymers include
fluoropolymers, polyetherimide, polycarbonate, polyetheretherketone
(PEEK), polyimide, and other suitable polymers. Examples of ceramic
material include alumina, ceria, yttria, zirconia, and other
suitable ceramic materials.
FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of the
adjustable fastening device 420, in accordance with some
embodiments. The adjustable fastening device 420 includes fasteners
504, such as sets of bolts and nuts. Three fasteners 504, in which
each fastener 504 includes a bolt 506 and a nut 510, are shown in
FIG. 5 although other types and other number of fasteners may be
used. The bolt 506 is disposed through the gas injector cover 416
and is coupled through threads in the bolt 506 to the base plate
422. The base plate 422 is coupled to the fixture 302. The nuts 510
may be adjusted to control the height of the gas injector cover
416. Controlling the height of the gas injector cover 416 controls
a bottom surface 418 of the gas injector cover 416 abutting the
window 414 against the seal 412 to provide a controllable sealing
force. Each fastener 504 may be separately adjusted to adjust the
height of the gas injector cover 416. The gas injector cover 416
provides a sealing force against the window 414 to compress the
seal 412. The separate adjustment of each fastener enables or
eliminates leaking through the window 414.
In certain embodiments, the bottom surface 418 of the gas injector
cover 416 is sloped at an angle 419 to match the slope of the
window 414 against the seal 412 housed in the seal groove of the
cylindrical body 206 of the gas injector 216. In certain
embodiments, the bottom surface 418 is sloped at an angle 419 in a
range from about 1.degree. to about 10.degree. from horizontal. In
some examples, the gas injector cover 416 has a longitudinal axis
417 (e.g., around which the gas injector cover 416 is substantially
laterally symmetrical) that intersects the bottom surface 418, and
an angle 421 formed by the intersection of the longitudinal axis
417 and the bottom surface 418 can be in a range from about
80.degree. to about 89.degree.. In certain embodiments, the sloped
bottom surface 418 of the gas injector cover 416 enhances sealing
of the window 414 against the seal 412.
The adjustable fastening device 420 may accommodate different gas
injectors 216. For example, different gas injectors 216 having
different nozzles 209 may be used in an integrated circuit
fabrication factory. The adjustable fastening device 420 can be
used as universal or single type of device to adjust the height of
the gas injector cover 416 of different gas injectors 216 to reduce
or to eliminate leaking through the window 414.
Without an adjustment device, sufficient fastening forces may not
be able to seal the window 414 against the seal 412 leading to
leaking between the window 414 and the seal 412. With the
adjustable fastening device 420, each fastener 504 can be
independently and individually tuned with corresponding height and
distance at the corresponding location to achieve the optimized
sealing effect between the seal 412 and the window 414, thereby
reducing or eliminating leakage.
FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic top view of an integrated circuit
(IC) fabrication system 600, in accordance with some embodiments.
The IC fabrication system 600 includes one or more plasma chambers
100 of FIG. 1 integrated together in a cluster tool. The plasma
chamber 100 includes one or more gas delivery sources 114 of FIG. 4
each having an adjustable fastening device 420 to fasten the gas
injector cover 416 against the window 414 to provide enhanced
sealing effect to the interface between the window 414 and the seal
412.
The IC fabrication system 600 includes a load port module 642
comprising a plurality of Front Opening Unified Pods (FOUPs) 634,
through which substrates are loaded and unloaded to and from the IC
fabrication system 600. The IC fabrication system 600 may include a
front-end robot 632 in an atmospheric pressure transfer module 640,
for holding, manipulating and transferring substrates. For example,
the front-end robot 632 may transfer substrates from the FOUPs 634
to a substrate aligner 644 and to one of the load lock chambers
630.
The IC fabrication system 600 may further include a transfer module
638 for transferring substrates between the plasma chambers 100 and
the load lock chambers 630. In some embodiments, the transfer
module 638 further includes one or more robot 622 for transferring
substrates on one or more substrate end effectors 624.
FIG. 7 is a graph 700 of a signal monitored by the endpoint
detector 230 of FIG. 2, in accordance with some embodiments. The
endpoint detector 230 may monitor an intensity of a signal of a
certain wavelength or a range of wavelengths over a processing time
of a substrate.
Line 702 represents the intensity of the signal when the plasma
chamber 100 is in proper operating condition without a leak in the
gas delivery source 114 utilizing the adjustable fastening device
420. In an example, intensity crossing a threshold 730 indicates
the end of the process, such as the end of an etching process. At
point 702E, the end of the process is detected by the endpoint
detector 230 at time 702T.
Line 714 represents the intensity of the signal when the plasma
chamber 100 is operating under a leak in the gas delivery source
114 with an adjustable fastening device 420. At point 714E, the end
of the process is erroneously detected by the endpoint detector 230
as crossing threshold 730 at time 714T. The intensity of the signal
operating under a leak indicates the end of the process too early
at time 714T in comparison to the actual end of the process at time
702T. The IC fabrication system 600 with the plasma chamber 100
having a leak in the gas delivery source 114 may have undesirable
process drift or erroneous detection of an endpoint.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method 800 of processing one or more
substrates 108, in accordance with some embodiments. The method 800
is implemented in the IC fabrication system 600 of FIG. 6 and is
described with reference to FIGS. 1-7.
The method 800 includes an operation 802 to tune the adjustable
fastening device 420 of the gas delivery source 114. The adjustable
fastening device 420 includes multiple sets of fasteners 504, each
further including a bolt 506 and a nut 510. The operation 802
includes disposing the gas injector cover 416 over the base plate
422 such that the fasteners 504 coupled the gas injector cover 416
to the base plate 422. The operation 802 includes adjusting the
height of the gas injector cover 416 or controlling the depth of a
bottom surface 418 of the gas injector cover 416. The height of the
gas injector cover 416 may be adjusted by tuning the nuts 510 to
adjust a sealing force between the window 414 and the seal 412
against the gas injector 216. Adjusting the height of the gas
injector cover 416 reduces or eliminates leaking through the
interface between that the seal 412 and the window 414.
The operation 802 may be repeated to tune the adjustable fastening
device 420 to one plasma chamber 100 on one IC fabrication system
600, to multiple plasma chambers 100 on one IC fabrication system
600, and/or to multiple plasma chambers 100 on multiple IC
fabrication systems 600. The adjustable fastening device 420 may
adjust the sealing force of the seal 412 and the window against
multiple types of gas injector 216 used on multiple plasma chambers
100.
In operation 812, the substrates 108 are loaded to the IC
fabrication system 600. For example, one or more semiconductor
wafers are loaded to the IC fabrication system 600 through the load
port module 642, such as in one or more batches in FOUPs 634. The
substrates 108 are loaded into the IC fabrication system 600
through the load port module 642 to one or more of the load lock
chambers 630.
In operation 814, the substrates 108 are transferred from the load
lock chamber 630 to one of the plasma chambers 100 by the robot
622. In operation 816, a plasma process is performed in the plasma
chamber 100 to the substrate 108. For example, a processing gas is
delivered from the gas supply source 118 to the gas injector 216 of
the plasma chamber 100. A plasma is maintained from the processing
gas in the enclosed space 104 by providing a RF power to the coil
124. For example, in an etching process, the process gas may
include, but not limited to, tetrafluoromethane (CF.sub.4), other
carbon fluorides, chlorine gas (Cl.sub.2), nitrogen trifluoride
(NF.sub.3), sulfur hexafluoride (SF.sub.6), hydrogen bromide (HBr),
hydrogen chloride (HCl), chlorine (Cl.sub.2), and other suitable
gases. For example, in a deposition process of silicon materials,
the process gas may include silane (SiH.sub.4), SiH.sub.2Cl.sub.2
(dichlorosilane), or other silicon precursors. For example, in a
treatment process, the process gas may include hydrogen (H.sub.2),
nitrogen (N.sub.2), oxygen (O.sub.2), or other gases. The process
gas may also include carrier gases such as nitrogen (N.sub.2),
argon (Ar), helium (He), or combinations thereof.
In operation 818, the substrates 108 are transferred from the
plasma chamber 100 to the load lock chambers 630 by the robot 622.
This operation is similar to the operation 814 but is reversed in
order.
In operation 820, the substrates 108 are unloaded from the IC
fabrication system 600 through the load port module 642. The method
800 may include other operations, before, during or after the
operations described above. For example, after the operation 820,
the substrates 108 may be transferred to other fabrication tools
for other processing steps.
The IC fabrication system 600 and the method 800 may have other
embodiments, or alternatives. The IC fabrication system 600 and the
method utilizing the same may be used to conduct one or a
combination of plasma process operations, such as etching,
deposition, and treatment.
Certain embodiments provide an IC fabrication system and a method
utilizing the same. By utilizing the disclosed IC fabrication
system, the plasma process, such as plasma etching quality and
efficiency are improved. The IC fabrication system includes one or
more plasma chambers 100, each further including one or more gas
delivery sources 114 with an adjustable fastening device 420. The
adjustable fastening device 420 includes multiple sets of fasteners
504, each further including a bolt 506 and a nut 510. Each fastener
504 may be individually adjusted to accommodate any type of gas
injectors 216 and to tune a fastening force to secure the gas
injector cover 416 to the gas injector 216 with enhanced sealing
effect between the seal 412 and the window 414, to reduce or to
eliminate leaking.
Certain embodiments provide the adjustable fastening device 420 to
reduce or eliminate leaking of the gas injectors 216 due to
different types of gas injectors 216. Leaking of the gas injectors
may cause erroneous detection of a process endpoint by the endpoint
detector 230 and/or may impact substrate process uniformity.
Certain embodiments provide the adjustable fastening device 420 to
be used and match any gas injector 216 to reduce or eliminate
leaking of the gas injector 216. By avoiding leaking of the gas
injector 216, maintenance and cost of the plasma chamber 100 may be
reduced and the uptime of the plasma chamber 100 may be
increased.
The embodiments of the present disclosure offer advantages over
existing art, though it is understood that other embodiments may
offer different advantages, not all advantages are necessarily
discussed herein, and that no particular advantage is required for
all embodiments. Various advantages may present in some
embodiments. By utilizing the disclosed IC fabrication system and
the method, the IC fabrication, such as plasma etching, is improved
with enhanced sealing and fabrication efficiency. Other advantages
may include less manufacturing cost and higher manufacturing
throughput.
An embodiment is an apparatus. The apparatus includes chamber walls
and a chamber window defining an enclosed space. A chamber window
is disposed between a plasma antenna and a substrate support. A gas
delivery source is mechanically coupled to the chamber window. The
gas delivery source comprises a gas injector having a passageway, a
window at a first end of the passageway, and a nozzle at a second
end of the passageway. The nozzle of the gas delivery source is
disposed in the enclosed space. A fastening device is mechanically
coupled to the gas delivery source. The fastening device is
adjustable to adjust a sealing force against the gas injector.
Another embodiment is a method of semiconductor processing. The
method includes transferring a substrate into a plasma chamber. A
gas is flowed into the plasma chamber while the substrate is in the
plasma chamber. The gas is flowed through a gas delivery source
mechanically coupled to the plasma chamber. The gas delivery source
includes a gas injector through which the gas flows into the plasma
chamber. A fastening device is mechanically coupled to the gas
delivery source and applies a sealing force against the gas
injector. The fastening device is adjustable to adjust the sealing
force. A plasma is maintained using the gas in the plasma
chamber.
Still another embodiment is a gas delivery source. The gas delivery
source includes a gas injector having a cylindrical body. A fixture
houses the gas injector and secures the gas injector to a chamber
window. A gas injector cover is disposed at one end of the
cylindrical body. A window is between the gas injector cover and
the cylindrical body. A seal is between the window and the
cylindrical body. An adjustable fastening device is coupled to the
gas injector cover. The adjustable fastening device adjusts the
sealing force of the gas injector cover against the window to
compress the seal.
The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that
those skilled in the art may better understand the aspects of the
present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that
they may readily use the present disclosure as a basis for
designing or modifying other processes and structures for carrying
out the same purposes and/or achieving the same advantages of the
embodiments introduced herein. Those skilled in the art should also
realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the
spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and that they may make
various changes, substitutions, and alterations herein without
departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.
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